Blood Roses
by rowanthefallen
Summary: AU season six. spoilers up to the end of 'once more with feeling' with a bit of an angel cross over. bs ac xa wt
1. Default Chapter

Dark shadows played along the grainy surfaces of stone angels and engraved stones. A petite young woman in faded low rise jeans and a ribbed tank top wandered among the silent monuments with a heavy battle scarred ax in her right hand. Her long blond hair was pulled up in a pony tail and her movements were fluid and graceful. A hot wind blew through the trees around her, rustling leaves. The girl glanced around the empty graveyard and she sighed. Then the barely perceptible sound of crunching grass filtered to her ears and she flipped around her nose practically hitting a black tee-shirt clad chest and the lapels of a leather coat. The girl let out a small yelp and jumped backwards. The back of her knees hit the top edge of a small tombstone and she fell backwards over it. The girl scowled and brushed a strand of blond hair out of her eyes.  
  
"God damn it, spike!" she exclaimed looking up at the person she nearly ran into. A rather short man with hair bleached so blond it was nearly white grinned infuriatingly at her and cocked his scarred left eyebrow. Amused blue eyes looked down at her and the mans arms were crossed over his chest.  
  
"Sorry Buffy." He said, his rough British accented voice not sounding sorry at all. Buffy sighed and propped herself up on her elbows still laying on the ground with her knees bent.  
  
"Spike, bell, neck, look into it." She said sarcastically. The man, spike, moved around the tombstone and sat down on the ground next to her.   
  
"Hey its not my fault that you weren't paying attention. Your the slayer, you should know when there is someone behind you." The man told her, unrepentant.   
  
The girl was 21 year old Buffy summers, small, reaching maybe five two, pretty, at first glance there wasn't anything incredibly special about her, but the special thing about Buffy was that she was a slayer. In every generation there is one girl in all the world, chosen to fight the vampires, demons and forces of darkness, she is the slayer. Buffy was one of the longest lasting slayers in history. In a life where not many lived past eighteen Buffy was already twenty-one. And she had died twice. The first time she was fighting an ageless vampire called simply the master and she was drowned. Her friend Xander Harris brought her back to life by CPR. And the second time she had jumped into a portal to save the world, and more specifically her little sister dawn. That time she had been brought back from the dead almost three months after by her friend and a powerful witch called willow Rosenburg. The man was spike or William the bloody, a vampire, almost two hundred years old. Spike was also small, maybe five ten with bleached hair and dark blue eyes. Spike had been one of the most feared master vampires in the world until a government organization called the initiative captured him and planted a computer chip in his brain that neutered him so he could not hurt any living human. Because of his handicap spike had joined forces with the slayer and had subsequently fallen in love with her. After Buffy died the second time spike had stayed in Sunnydale California, the place where Buffy and her friends lived and also home to the hell mouth, a center for evil on earth. Spike took care of Buffy's little sister dawn and looked after her friends until Buffy came back from the dead.   
  
Buffy scooted her body into a sitting position, folding her legs tailor style facing the leather clad vampire.  
  
"I guess I'm just so used to having you around that I don't really notice it anymore." She said thoughtfully. Spike grinned.  
  
"So you like having me around then?" he asked, his voice low and teasing. Buffy's eyes widened.  
  
"I never said that." She quickly backtracked. "I am just so used to you annoying the hell out of me that I don't notice anymore." She amended. Spike quirked his eyebrow and smirked at her blustering. Buffy mentally kicked herself. This is spike, SPIKE, you do not have any feeling towards him other than irritation, god he has pretty eyes, stop it! Buffy kicked her self mentally again while spike just stared at her like he knew exactly what she was thinking. Buffy cleared her throat loudly and turned her eyes to the ground.  
  
"So what brings you to my neck of the cemetery?" she asked, studiously avoiding his penetrating gaze. Spike shrugged.  
  
"Just bored, looking for a fight, 'stead I found a blond with a walking impairment." He said snidely. Buffy scowled.  
  
"If you don't shut up ill give you a walking impairment. Ill shove my stake so far up your ass you'll get splinters in your eyelids." She snapped and stood up. Spike followed suit with a frown on his face.  
  
"Buffy, what's wrong?" he asked his voice losing its playful tone and becoming concerned. Buffy sighed and smiled wanly at him.  
  
"I'm sorry, I just, I had a bad day. Dawn was late for school, I got coffee on my favorite shirt. It was just bad." She apologized. Spike nodded.  
  
"Sorry, you had a bad day you probably don't need me around pissing you of further." Spike said contritely and turned to walk away. Buffy had to restrain her self from grabbing at his coat to keep his from walking farther from her.  
  
"No spike, its OK, you can patrol with me if you want. I didn't mean to take it out on you." She apologized again. Spike turned back around with a dazzling smile on his face and Buffy became suddenly short of breath. She turned away and began walking again to cover her reaction. Spike sauntered along beside her. They walked for a while in companionable silence. After almost ten minutes Buffy groaned in frustration.  
  
"God! Did all the demons take a holiday and forget to send me a memo cuz its been like this for almost two weeks. If I don't get in some sort of slaying I'm going to go completely off my rocker." Buffy complained. Spike nodded.  
  
"Yeah it has been kind of dead around here lately. No joke intended." He agreed. Buffy sighed and turned around.  
  
"Well screw this, I'm going home. No need to walk around aimlessly if there is nothing to aim at." She began walking spike wandered behind her looking rather disappointed. Then suddenly he was on the ground with a large hairy demon pinning him to the ground. Buffy spun around and tackled the demon off of spike's chest and sunk her ax into the creatures ribcage. The demon gurgled what spike took to be a laugh and pulled the ax out of its chest then tossed it to the side. Buffy grinned happily.  
  
"Finally!" she exclaimed and rushed the creature. Spike flipped to his feet and joined in. The demon flung them both back and roared its displeasure. Buffy and spike attacked again and were flung back again.   
  
"Ok this is getting ridiculous!" spike commented and pulled himself off the grass. Buffy nodded, doing the same for herself.  
  
"We should just take him down, no more toying with it guess." She said sounding slightly put out and he rushed it again. After ten minutes of hard fighting the demon lay dead on the grass in a pool of crayola purple blood. Buffy made a disgusted noise and wiped a large glob of the purple blood off of her shirt. She and spike were both liberally smeared with the incandescent goop. Spike wrinkled his nose distastefully and tried to clean off his trench coat.   
  
"God that's rank. I need to shower, like now." Buffy grumbled and wrung a stream of the stuff out of her hair. Spike nodded.  
  
"Yeah, there's a shower at my crypt, you can clean up there before you head home." Spike offered. Buffy nodded and made another face of disgust before following him.   
  
Spike pushed open the heavy door of the crypt and walked inside. Buffy walked in after him and stood in the middle of the floor while spike went around the room lighting candles with his silver Zippo.   
  
"Showers downstairs." Spike told her once he was done and the crypt was bathed in a warm golden glow. Buffy smiled her thanks and followed him down the ladder into the lower level of the crypt. She stopped in shock when she saw the previously cluttered and dank lower level. Spike stopped also and looked back at her confused.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked. Buffy waived her hand around the room.  
  
"What did you do down here while I was gone?" she asked, her voice slightly awed. The broken furniture and random papers along the floor had been cleaned out and replaced with a large four poster bed with what looked like silk sheets and soft pillows. A large oak table with intricately carved legs stood against one wall and was covered with old leather bound books. A book case next to it was filled similarly and a large overstuffed high-backed arm chair stood in front of the table. Heavy tapestries hung over the rough hewn stone walls and an embroidered carpet covered the cold stone floor. Spike shrugged indifferently.  
  
"I figured I was going to be here for at least most of my eternal life so I decided to clean the place up a little. Showers over here. You can use it first, I'm going to get something to eat." Spike gestured to a dark canvas curtain that hung across a small alcove. Buffy could see the silver head of a shower fixture over the top of the curtain. She watched spike go through another curtain into what she presumed was a storage area. She went to the canvas curtain and pulled it open. Several hooks were screwed into the wall and towels were in a stack next to the alcove. Buffy grabbed one and hung it on a hook. She closed the curtain and peeled off her sticky clothes and dropped them on the floor. She turned the water onto hot and showered quickly scrubbing her hair and body with the chunk of soap on a ledge in the alcove. Then she rinsed her clothes and washed them with the soap trying to get as much of the gunk off as she could. Then she turned the water off and wrapped a towel around herself. She poked her head out and saw a pile of clean clothes sitting on the bed and spike leaning against the ladder with a book in his hand and a mug in his other. Buffy walked out of the alcove grabbed the clothes and smiled at spike. Spike nodded and turned back to his book. Buffy went back into the alcove and pulled on the black sweatpants and tee-shirt that spike had lent her. She had to cinch the waist tightly on the pants to keep them from falling off. She ran her fingers through her damp hair and went back out through the curtain. Spike looked up and she smiled again.  
  
"Your turn." She said.  
  
"Yay." Spike said dryly and grinned at her. She rolled her eyes and watched him grab a towel and close the curtain. Her mouth went dry when she saw his jeans drop to the ground. Oh for Christ sake girl, once again, this is spike. You don't think of him like that, even though he is incredibly beautiful and really built and, NO stop that! You don't have those feelings for spike. Then another voice in her head piped up. Sure you don't. Shut up both of you! Buffy scolded herself mentally and sat down on spikes bed. The soft sheets and fluffy down comforter felt like heaven on her tired body and she stretched out on the mattress.   
  
"Ill just lay down till spike's done then I'll go home." Buffy said with a wide yawn. She was asleep in seconds. Spike finished his shower and changed his clothes. He left the alcove and stopped with a smile. Buffy was sprawled out on his bed dead asleep. He watched her for a few seconds, his eyes drinking in the soft gold of her skin and the gentle curve of her side. Then he went over to the bed and shook her shoulder gently.  
  
"Hey slayer, s'time to wake up." He said gently. Buffy mumbled in her sleep and rolled over taking his hand with her. Spike's eyes widened realizing he was trapped. Spike sighed and shook her again. She didn't even respond this time just slept on with his hand clutched against her stomach. Spike sighed and reached in his pants for his cell phone.  
  
"Hey willow?" he said when the phone picked up.   
  
"Yeah?" came the girls sleepy voice on the other end.  
  
"Its spike, Buffy was really knackered after patrol tonight and kind of fell asleep over here, is it ok if she just stays? I tried to wake her but that didn't work." He said looking down at his captured hand. Willow chuckled.  
  
"You tried to wake her up? Do you still have all your limbs?" she said with a grin. Spike chuckled back.  
  
"For now. I just didn't want you all to worry. Ill make sure she gets home tomorrow. Tell dawn and Glenda I said hi." He told her referring to Buffy's sister and willow's girlfriend Tara. Willow laughed again.  
  
"I will. G'night spike." Willow said and hung up the phone. Spike clicked his phone off and stuck it back into his jeans. He tried to pull his hand away from Buffy grasp but she just clutched it tighter. Spike sighed and laid down on his stomach on the bed next to her. Buffy sighed in her sleep and rolled over, releasing his hand but sprawling across his tee-shirt clad chest. Spike froze, his muscles tense and his hands up not touching her. After a minute or two his hands drifted down and wrapped loosely around her small body. Spike's eye drifted closed. Buffy snuggled closer and mumbled something. Spike frowned and leaned his head down to hear her better.  
  
"What's that luv?" he asked softly. Buffy sighed.  
  
"G'night spike." Spike's face lit up and he held her tighter.   
  
"Love you Buffy." He said for the first time since she had come back from the dead.   
  
"I know." She mumbled and fell back to sleep. Spike closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep feeling warmer then ever in his entire life. 


	2. no, its not an apocalypse

A harsh buzzing ring woke Rupert Gile's from his slumber. The older man rolled over and looked at his bedside clock with sleep bleary eyes. The red numbers glared five in the morning. Giles rolled over again and groped for the phone. He lifted it to his ear and mumbled a hello.  
  
"Rupert Giles?" came a clipped British accented voice across the broken connection. Giles instantly sat up straighter, alert and slightly irritated.  
  
"Travers? Quentin Travers? Do you have any idea what time it is here?" he said in his ow gruff British accent.   
  
"Yes I know Rupert but this is a matter of some urgency. There has been an accident involving the other slayer. Faith." Travers told him. Gile's stomach did a few flip flops before plummeting to his feet.   
  
Faith was the girl called to be slayer after Buffy died the first time. Faith was erratic from the start but after a short stint as Buffy's partner in slaying she accidentally killed a man and went off the deep end. She allied with a evil master mind who wanted to ascend into a pure demon. Buffy managed to defeat them both ad sent faith into a coma. A year later faith awoke and terrorized Buffy and her friends before fleeing to los Angeles where she ran into a master vampire named angel, who had been cursed with a soul. Angel was Buffy's former paramour but had left knowing he could never give her a normal life. Angel managed to help faith and faith turned herself into the police for her crimes.  
  
Giles cleared his throat and took a deep breath before replying.  
  
"What is it?" he asked, his voice deceptively calm.   
  
"There was a riot at the prison where she was being held and faith was shot three times protecting a fellow prisoner from an insane guard who started the entire thing. The man is on trial no for the murder of three other inmates and two guards. Faith died for almost two minutes before the emergency team was able to revive her. Now you might see where our predicament comes into place. Because of this, another slayer has been called. A sixteen year old Irish girl named Kia Finnegan." Travers paused waiting for some reaction. Giles was silent for a few seconds digesting this information.   
  
"So there is three now." He said a little dazed.  
  
" yes Rupert. Now here comes the clincher. The council would like you and miss summers along with your ally William the bloody and any of your little crew who would like to go, to travel to new York and talk to her. Inform her of her sacred duty. The council hopes that your approach might be more affective then ours for this girl. Pleas talk it over with group and I will call back at seven tonight. If you check your mail you will find we have sent you all the files we have on her and her past. Good bye Rupert." Travers finished and the phone clicked as he hung up.  
  
Giles slowly set the phone back in its cradle and stared at it for a few seconds before picking it back up and dialing the familiar numbers.  
  
"Hello?" came a sleepy female voice followed by another female voice sounding distant asking who was on the phone.  
  
"Its Giles. I need every one to meet at the magic shop at seven. It is a matter of some urgency. Is Buffy there?" Giles asked. Willow yawned loudly on the other side of the connection before replying.  
  
"No she and spike were tired from patrol and crashed at his place." Willow told him. Giles let a small smile cross his face and his expression grew softer when he thought of spike and Buffy. Just a year ago if he had heard that Buffy was sleeping at spike's crypt he would have been angry and immediately suspected foul play of some sort but during the time when Buffy had been dead spike had earned the respect of every one in the group, especially Giles. All of them felt almost Gile's children to him and spike, although older that Giles year wise was still a child. A young man who never had the chance to grow up. And as much as he was concerned for Buffy, getting involved with another vampire, he actually was rather happy that Buffy and spike felt something for each other.   
  
"Well, could you get a hold of them and tell them to get to the magic shop? Its really urgent." Giles said sounding a little concerned. Willow frowned.  
  
"Apocalypse?" she asked.  
  
"No no not that dire, just, please get a hold of every one. Call Xander to please." Giles requested.   
  
"Yeah sure Giles. Ill see you then." Willow promised and they both hung up. Willow turned in bed to look at Tara who was staring up at her with sleepy blue green eyes.  
  
"What's up?" Tara asked. Willow sighed and snuggled back down into her girlfriends arms.  
  
"Giles. Says we need to meet at the magic box at seven. No apocalypse just something dire. We need to call Xander and Anya too." She said with another yawn. Tara reached over willows shoulder and grabbed the phone. She quickly dialed the number and filled Xander and Anya in on the situation then replaced the phone on its stand. Willow looked contemplatively at Tara and bit her lip.  
  
"What would you think of spike and Buffy?" she asked. Tara frowned and absentmindedly played with a lock of willows flaming red hair.  
  
"Spike and Buffy? What do you mean?" she asked. Willow shrugged her shoulders and smiled.  
  
"Well as a couple. I mean couldn't you see them getting all snuggly together after patrol every night? I mean she is sleeping over there right now. Maybe they are already together and she just hasn't told us..." willow trailed off at the end and her face furrowed into a frown. Tara gently smoothed the worry lines off of willows face.  
  
"You know she would tell you about something like that." Tara assured her. Willow shook her head.  
  
"I'm not so sure. I mean maybe a year ago or so but lately. I know there's something she's been keeping from me, all of us, and its not about spike. I don't think she would tell me about spike, we all hated him for so long she might be embarrassed or not want us to hate her. Oh god! She wouldn't tell me! I'm a bad friend." Willow whimpered. Tara pulled willow closer to her and gently stroked her hair.  
  
"Buffy loves you, and she knows you love her. She knows we all do. She might just need some time. She'll tell us. Just give her time." Tara assured her then grinned mischievously. "Speaking of time. We have about two hours to kill, have any suggestions?" Tara asked wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Willow smiled.  
  
"Minx." She accused before planting a long slow kiss on Tara's lips. 


	3. sleepless dreaming

Buffy was standing in the middle of a large grassy field. There was a tree just ten yards away. Beneath the tree a large blanket was spread out. A young couple was sprawled out on the blanket on their side's facing each other. Buffy stepped a little closer then froze when she recognized the couple. The girl was her, but the blanket Buffy looked different. Her hair was longer and had a slight wave to it, her dress was simple and long with the faintest touches of embroidery along its white cotton length. The man was spike, only not quite. The blanket spike had dark blond hair and wore tiny reading glasses, he was reading to blanket-Buffy from a slim leather bound book.   
  
"You know who they are?" came a familiar British voice from behind her. Buffy looked over her shoulder and watched spike step up behind her, his bleached hair glowing in the sunshine, then next to her.  
  
"Its us." She answered as the couple shared a slow sweet kiss. Spike shook his head.  
  
"Not quite. That is Elizabeth and William. That is who you were before you became the slayer. And that is who I was before I became a vampire." Spike explained, his eyes locked on the couple on the blanket. Buffy frowned.  
  
"But I'm still her, sort of. Does that mean your still him?" she asked looking up at him. Spike just smiled and turned to his left. Buffy turned also and the scene changed. Now they were in a grave yard. There was another Buffy and spike there too. That Buffy was wearing black leather pants and a white tank top. That spike was wearing his black jeans and tee-shirt along with his duster. They were fighting with a group of vampires and alternately with each other. Buffy watched them for a few seconds before turning to her spike.  
  
"What does all this mean? Why are you showing this to me?" she asked. Spike shook his head.  
  
"I'm not the one showing this to you. I'm just the messenger." He said and turned once again. Buffy sighed and turned also. This time the scene changed to a barren waste land. In the middle was a girl that Buffy could barely identify with herself. This girl had hard eyes and a hard body, her hair was silken and white, floating around her head, her skin glowed nearly as white and her teeth were bared and pointed. She was fighting with a demon with glowing blue eyes and swirling black and red skin. Small horns came out of his forehead and his teeth were pointed like a vampires. He didn't stand much taller than the barely-Buffy but was heavily muscled. Neither could get the advantage over the other, the barely-Buffy threw a swift punch at the barely-spike who caught it and pulled her body up against his. She struggled for a second before the barely-spike crushed his lips down onto hers and she eagerly responded. Buffy's eyes widened and she turned quickly to her spike.  
  
"Now what the hell does THAT mean?" she demanded. Spike just smiled and looked down at her with his dark blue eyes and loving gaze.   
  
"There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, beyond which life cannot rise." He told her and kissed her. Buffy blinked her eyes awake with the strange dream running through her mind. The dream was quickly banished when she realized exactly who was currently acting as her pillow. She was curled up against spikes chest with her head pillowed on his shoulder. His arms were wrapped tightly around her waist and the down comforter was pulled over both of them. Buffy's first thought was oh god, I'm sleeping with spike we are sleeping in the same bed! Her second thought was a little different. He breathes when he sleeps. Just like a normal person, it must be a habit. And his hair is curly. I never knew that. She thought and gently ran her fingers through his tousled curls. Spike sighed and a deep rumbling noise started in the depths of his chest. Buffy bit her lip to keep from laughing when she realized what he was doing. Spike was purring. Buffy smiled and gingerly wrapped her arms around his hard packed abdomen. She breathed in the heady scent of bourbon, cigarettes, and a something that was completely spike. Her eyes drifted closed and she slipped back into sleep, conveniently forgetting about her previous dream.   
  
Willow had just finished dressing and was about to open the door when it slammed open and a very distressed dawn stalked in.  
  
"Buffy's gone!" Dawn exclaimed wringing her hands together. "I just went in her room and she wasn't there! The bed was made and she hasn't been home all night!" Dawn exclaimed thoroughly freaked out. Willow smiled slightly.  
  
"Don't worry dawn, Buffy spent the night at spike's." She assured the frightened young girl. Dawn stopped and looked at willow curiously.  
  
"She spent the night at spike's?!" dawn asked shocked. Willow nodded with a large smile on her face. Dawn grinned back and started to doing a little dance.  
  
"Buffy slept over at spike's!" she exclaimed and hugged willow around the shoulders. Willow just laughed. Tara came In from the bathroom with her hair still damp from her shower. Dawn instantly grabbed Tara around the waist and hugged her too.  
  
"Buffy slept over at spike's!" Dawn informed her then ran out of the room. Tara gave willow an amused look then her eyes widened.  
  
"Oh dawn! We have to go over to the magic box. Get dressed. Giles said it was an emergency." Tara yelled out of the open door. Dawn yelled back her acquiescence. Tara smiled at turned back to willow.  
  
"Did you try spike's cell again?" she asked. Willow nodded.  
  
"Yeah, no answer. So either their sleeping or too busy to come to the phone." She and Tara exchanged a look then willow went over to the closet and grabbed a light jean jacket.  
  
"I'm just going to run over there and get them and hopefully not be scarred for life. Ill meet you at the magic box." She said and kissed Tara on the lips before grabbing her keys and rushing out the door. It took willow just ten minutes to get to the cemetery then a few more to get to the crypt. Willow stood in front of the door for a second before banging on the door. No one answered. Willow gently pushed the door open and walked in.  
  
"Buffy? Spike? Anybody?" she called. A small grunt came from the lower level. Willow quietly went down the ladder then smiled at the scene before her. Buffy and spike were dead asleep lying in each others arms under spike's soft down quilt. Buffy was smiling gently and it was more real than any smile willow had seen on her face since she was brought back from the dead.   
  
"Hey you guys. Time to get up." Willow said loudly. Spike's eyes drifted open and he yawned lazily.  
  
"Hey red. What's up? He asked before yawing again. Willow grinned again and gestured slightly to the still sleeping Buffy. Spike looked down and realized for the first time why he was so warm and why his bed had seemed small. Spike's eyes widened.  
  
"Oh no wait its not what it looks like." He said quickly. Willow quirked one eyebrow.  
  
"Oh its not? Well then why the hell not?" she asked pointedly. Spike frowned confused but they were both distracted when Buffy's eyes opened. She smiled up at spike and stretched lazily, still in the circle of his arms.  
  
"G'morning." She mumbled and snuggled closer to him. Willow coughed loudly and Buffy's head jerked over to see her friend standing in the middle of the room with a knowing smile on her face. Buffy instantly tensed and spike's face fell.  
  
"Wills! I..um..,that is...oh...um, hi?" she said nervously but didn't move from her position against spike. Willow smiled even wider.  
  
"Sorry to interrupt this sickeningly cute scene but Gile's needs us at the magic box. He said it was urgent. Called me at five in the morning but didn't tell me what it was." Willow explained. Buffy groaned and unconsciously buried her face against spike's chest.  
  
"God not another apocalypse. I'm barely recovered from the last one." She mumbled and lifted her head again.  
  
"What time did we need to be there?" she asked. Willow looked at her watch.  
  
"In about fifteen minutes. You guys all dressed under there?" willow asked eyeing them speculatively. Buffy blushed and her voice didn't seem to work so she just nodded. Spike reluctantly pulled away and threw the covers off of them. Buffy sighed and sat up straightening the oversized black tee-shirt she was wearing. Willow's smile grew to maniac proportions when she saw that Buffy was wearing spike's clothes. Buffy looked down at what she was wearing and her face became an amusing shade of bright red.  
  
"There was a demon a-and there was this gloopy purple stuff everywhere!" Buffy tried to explain. Willow just nodded patronizingly and went back up the ladder. Spike pulled his leather duster over his sleep rumpled clothes and tossed Buffy a sweater because her jacket was still smeared in demon goop. Buffy pulled the sweater over her head and straightened her tousled hair. They both went up the ladder and followed willow to the magic box, walking in silence but a little closer than normal. Every one else was already there when they arrived. Willow immediately went over to Tara and sat down beside her. Buffy moved to the table and sat down on top of it with her feet in her chair. Spike flopped down in a chair beside her. Giles was leaning stiffly against the front counter. Xander looked up at the stern faced English man and smiled.  
  
"Ok so what big nasty are we battling today?" he asked. Giles cleared his throat slightly before beginning.  
  
"We have a little problem. It starts with faith." He said and Buffy's face fell.  
  
"Oh man, what did she do now?" she asked with no humor in her voice. Spike patted her hand reassuringly and she smiled at him. Willow and Tara noted the exchange and grinned secretly to themselves while Gile's continued.  
  
"There was a riot at the prison where she was being held. She was shot six times while protecting a prisoner from the guard that incited it." Giles explained. Buffy was on her feet in an instant with wild eyed concern evident on her face.  
  
"What's happened! Is she ok?" Buffy demanded. Her dislike for the girl instantly becoming over shadowed with concern for her. Giles nodded.  
  
"Yes she's alright now, but she died for a full two minutes before the emergency medical crew could revive her." Giles explained. Buffy sighed relieved then her eyes grew wide again.  
  
"Wait, does that mean..." she trailed off in disbelief. Giles nodded.  
  
"A third slayer had been called. A girl named Kia Finnegan. The council wants a bunch of us to go to new York and talk to her. They seem to think that our approach will be more successful. They sent us all the records they had on her. I haven't looked at them yet. I figured we should do that together." Giles said brandishing a large manila envelope stuffed to capacity. Willow came up and took the envelope from him. They all settled around the table with willow in the center. Willow broke the seal on the envelope and pulled out the papers.  
  
"Ok well, it says here she's an Irish immigrant. Sixteen years old, she moved to new York when she was fourteen. She weighs a hundred and nineteen pounds. She is five six. Red hair. Green eyes. Lives and attends school at St.Peters catholic mission. Mother deceased. Father, unknown. Those are just the basic records. Um oh here's a more personal account." Willow said shuffling through the papers till she found the ones she wanted. "Ok she moved from Ireland with her mother when she was fourteen, they lived in hell's kitchen for a year. Her mother was an alcoholic, into a lot of drugs, Kia spent a lot of time in and out of group homes. And also in the hospital. Her mother was an abusive drunk it seems. Oh..." willow trailed off. Tara leaned over and she winced. Buffy frowned.  
  
"What is it?" she asked. Willow looked up.  
  
"They have pictures from one of her hospital stays." She said softly and handed Buffy the stack of photographs. Spike leaned over to look at them with her while every one else crowded around. It was a girl with longish red hair that hung in unkempt limp curls past her shoulders. She looked to be about fourteen or fifteen. Both of her eyes were swollen completely shut and were a mottled purple and blue. A large bruise shaped like a hand wrapped around the girl slender neck. Another picture showed the sickly yellow bruises that ranged up and down the girls ribcage. You could see every single rib in perfect detail, even with the swelling. Buffy swallowed hard and gave the pictures back to willow.   
  
"Do they have any more recent photos?" she asked thickly. Willow shuffled through the papers and shook her head.  
  
"No apparently not. But we have the address of her school which is apparently adjacent to the orphanage where she lives and the address of the music store where she works. Those are her hours for the next few weeks." Willow said handing another slip of paper to Buffy. Buffy nodded and set it down.  
  
"Alright well I guess we have to decide then. Who's going to go? Dawn I know what you want to say but no. You've missed too much school already." Buffy told her sister. Dawn sighed but nodded. Willow and Tara both raised their hands along with spike and Giles. Buffy looked them over and nodded.  
  
"Xander, Anya, you guys want to stay behind and keep and eye on dawn?" she asked. Xander nodded and so did Anya.  
  
"Did they send any flight information?" spike asked. Willow flipped through some of the remaining papers and pulled up a sheaf of tickets and several papers with blue trim.  
  
"Yup there are enough tickets for all of us on a private charter plane. So spike won't get extra crispy. It leaves tomorrow at seven." Willow handed the items to Giles who looked them over. He nodded and passed them to Buffy.  
  
"Every thing appears to be in order. I will call Travers back and we should all go to get ready and very possibly get more sleep." He said with a side long glance at spike and Buffy who were studiously looking at the floor. They all got up from their respective positions to leave. Xander walked over to Buffy and frowned.  
  
"Are you wearing spike's clothes?" he asked. Willow burst out laughing and practically fell over. 


	4. over the hills and far away

"You ever been on a plane before?" buffy asked looking over at spike. Spike nodded jerkily.  
  
"Twice. Hated it then too." He told her. The plane was headed down the run way and had not even taken off yet but spike was already gripping the arm rests so tight that buffy thought they would break off. They had arrived at the air port and a council lackey had shown them to the plane. It was a small twelve seater. Willow and tara sat next to eachother. Giles took a seat by himself to go over the new slayers records a few more times and try to thinkof a good approach. Buffy was going to take a seat with willow and tara but then she noticed the way spike was swallowing hard and walking as slow as he could to his seat. Buffy had left them and sat next to spike. Spike jerked spasmodically when the plane turned. Buffy frowned worried.  
  
"Spike its gonna be alright. You know the council probably has put so many spells on this plane that it would float on water." She told him. Spike chuckled weakly.  
  
"Somehow that doesn't make me feel better." He told her. Buffy sighed and smiled slightly. Seeing spike like this, so worried over something that was so inconsequential to most people made him seem...for lack of a better term...human. It made him seem vulnerable. Buffy bit her lip then hesitantly rested her hand over spike's clenched fist. It instantly relaxed. She looked up and he was looking down at her with a questioning look in her eyes. She didn't know how to answer the obviouse question in his eyes so she just smiled and let her hand rest more firmly on his. His hand shifted and their fingers were suddenly laced together. Buffy smiled again and rested her head on his shoulder. Spike kissed the top of her head and inhaled deeply, smelling her vanilla scented shampoo and leaned bakc in his chair. He glanced out the special uv protected window and saw blue sky, during his little exchange with buffy they had managed to take off without him noticing. His eyes narrowed and he glanced down at buffy who was jsut smiling triumphantly. Spike ment to be indignant, really he did, but her warm small body leaning agaisnt him seemed to just make all of his bones turn into jello, except for one but luckily she wasn't leaning on that one. As soon as spike thought that buffy snuggled closer and slung her legs up over his lap brushing against said 'bone'. Spike restrained a small hip jerk when her smooth barelegs brushed up against the zipper of his jeans. He looked down at her but she had fallen asleep in his arms again. Her leg shifted a little and spike's eyes rolled back in his head. It was gonna be a LONG flight.   
  
Buffy spike giles willow and tara got off the plane in newyork at roughly nine at night there. They went quickly to the council provided accomidations and went out to the front of the building to regroup and make a battle plan. Giles held up a small sheaf of paper where he had written donw all relivant adresses and when she was working that night.   
  
"Alright she is working from seven to midnight near washington square park. It jsut a few blocks away from here so we should go there first and get a feel for things. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we get home and possibly with her in tow. Ok her name is kia. Pronounced kuh-eye. Finnigan. All we have is the pictures from her hospital stay so we will jsut have to play it by ear. Every body understand?" giles asked. Everyone nodded. He nodded also and they headed down the street towards washington square park.   
  
The store sat on the southern edge of the park, jsut across the street from an entrance. It was a large warehouse type building with large metal doors that were rolled open and a large sign reading 'open mic night' rested against one door. Buffy took the lead and walked in first trying to look nonchalant as they wandered through the surpirisingly large group of people milling in the store. A large number of people were also seated in folding chairs or on wood flats in front of a rough stage covered with drums and variouse types of guitars and other insturments. Willow was the first to spot her.  
  
"Over there, the counter. Its her. Kia." Willow said pointing quickly at a girl standing behind a big wooden counter. She was average height, 5'6 maybe 5'7 with long dark red hair that fell down to the small of her back. She was wearing what looked like the uniform from her school. A black and gray pleated plaid skirt that stopped jsut above her knee, a white collared longs sleeved shirt and over it was a black oxford sweater. The girls large deep green eyes were partially hidden by oval thickblakc framed glasses and her hair wich fell forward onto her face in unkempt curls. Her sleeves were too long and kept falling over her hands and she kept pushing her glasses up her nose. She rang up the customers purchase deftly and bagged it with practiced ease handing it to them and leaning forward with her elbows on the counter.   
  
"She's pretty." Tara commented. Willow and buffy nodded. Spike shrugged.  
  
"Never really was much for red heads." He said almost apologetically. Willow mock glared at him and moved closer to the counter. The rest of the group followed suit and they blended in with a large clump of people looking at a custom bass display nearby. The girl looked up when a taller gilr with black hair cut short, jsut brushing her chin and brown eyes came up next to her.  
  
"Hey kia." Dark haired girl said. Kia smiled shyly.  
  
"Lo' mary." Kia greeted in thick irish brogue mixed with a slight new york accent. Mary leaned on her elbows also and nudged kia with her shoulder.  
  
"So you gonna go up tonight?" she asked. Kia shook her head vehemently.  
  
"No way, not tonight." She said. Mary sighed."Oh well thats too bad cuz your up next." She said with a huge grin. Kia's eye widened and she began to stutter. Mary just waived off her objections and pushed an acoustic guitar into kia's hands.  
  
"Just go kia, you know you love it." Mary told her and pushed her towards the stage pulling kia's glasses off as she did. Kia stumbled onto the stage and stared wide eyed at the mass of chattering people. Buffy willow tara giles and spike pressed closer to the stage to see what would happen. Kia took a deep breath and sat down lightly on a stool in front of a microphone. Kia's eyes closed and a soft melody formed beneath her fingers, picked expertly from the guitars strings.   
  
See all those people on the ground   
  
waisting time  
  
try to hold it all inside   
  
but jsut for tonight  
  
the top of the world   
  
sitting here wishing   
  
a soft rich voice that shone like unpolished diamonds filtered out of the speakers and the crowd fell silent after the first line. The entire store was in dead silence as she continued.  
  
The things ive become   
  
that something is missing   
  
maybe I ...  
  
what do I know  
  
kia's eyes opened as she began to get more into it and her voice grew stronger. The patrons began to get into the familiar song and the heart peircing voice.   
  
And now it seems that I have found  
  
nothing at all  
  
I want to hear your voice out loud  
  
slow it down  
  
slow it down  
  
without it all  
  
im choking on nothing   
  
its clear in my head  
  
and im screaming for something  
  
knowing nothing is better than knowing it all  
  
on my own   
  
on my own  
  
on my own  
  
on my own  
  
on my own... life...  
  
on my own... life...   
  
her soft voice turned into a rougher wail as she sang life, drawing it out until every one in the crowd could feel it cutting into their chest like a serated knife.  
  
without it all   
  
im choking on nothing   
  
its clear in my head   
  
and im screaming for something   
  
knowing nothing is better than knowing it all  
  
on my own  
  
on my own  
  
on my own   
  
on my own  
  
when the song finished, the crowd stayed silent for what seemed like an eternity then they let out a deafening roar. More than one of the scoobies wiped away a little moisture from their eyes and spike put his fingers in his mouth for an ear splitting whistle. Kia blushed furiously and walked off stage handing the guitar to mary who was smiling triumphantly.  
  
"You love it." Mary said slyly as the next performer went on stage. Kia went back to her position behind the counter and buffy began to move towards her. Spike followed exactly two steps behind then the rest of the group trailed after. Buffy stopped in front of the counter and took a deep breath.  
  
"Kia finnigan?" she said to the girls turned back. Kia flipped around and smiled shyly.  
  
"C-can I help you?" she said and pushed her glasses up her nose. Buffy smiled back and held out her hand.  
  
"Hello my name is Buffy summers and I'm a slayer." Buffy introduced as Kia took her hand. Kia frowned and pushed her hair back from her face.  
  
"Your a what?" she asked. Spike rolled his eyes and looked at Buffy.  
  
"Your trying to introduce the girl to her destiny not get her to join bloody slayers anonymous." He scoffed. Kia cleared her throat and spoke again.  
  
"What's a slayer?" she asked and was completely ignored. Buffy flipped around and scowled at him.  
  
"Listen spike I prefer the direct and up front approach, this is the way I'm gonna handle it. If you want you can always leave." She told him. Spike chuckled softly.  
  
"The direct and up front approach, yeah and how well does that work for any one? You have to be a little more delicate than that. You don't teach someone to swim by throwing them in the pool." He told her. They were standing toe to toe now with their noses inches apart. Gesturing wildly as they argued.   
  
"Oh yeah spike? And what do you know about delicacy? Angel told me all about the ring of amara. You had a plan but your legs started to cramp? That's really delicate and well thought out." Buffy sneered. Spike growled and his eyes tinged yellow.  
  
"You always have to bring up that wanker whenever we talk. Oh angel said this angel did that. You want to know where you can shove you precious angel?" spike snarled. Buffy stared right into his gold flecked eyes.  
  
"Yeah I do. Tell me spike, I'm really interested." She sniped sarcastically.   
  
"You can stick him right up your sodding self righteous holier than thou a-"   
  
"HEY!" came a loud voice from behind them. They both ground to a halt and flipped around . Kia was looking at the floor with a feverish intensity and her pale cheeks were almost as red as her hair. "What's a slayer?" she mumbled. Willow, Tara, and giles burst out laughing. 


	5. destiny

Buffy was sitting on a park bench in the nearby Washington square park with a coffee in her hands. Next to her sat a still blushing Kia. Giles was sitting on a bench across form them with willow and Tara. Spike was standing watch in a darker corner of the area waiting for his cue. Buffy set her coffee down on the bench beside her and turned to Kia.  
  
"OK this is going to be a little hard to believe but you've got to keep an open mind. I'm a slayer. I fight vampires and demons and all the bed monsters and such. You are also a slayer. There was a girl before you. Her name is faith. She died for a few minutes and you were activated. Faith is now recovering but your still here. Now normally I would not want to subject you to anything this life has to offer. Its dangerous and lonely with a high mortality rate and sub-minimum wage. I'm living proof of that. I've died twice already. But you have been chosen and there is not much we can do about that." Buffy explained, surprised at how easily the words flowed out of her mouth. Kia stared wide eyed at Buffy then cleared her throat slightly.  
  
"W-why me? I'm not really anything special." She said softly turning her gaze back to the ground. Buffy smiled gently and laid her hand on the girls shoulder.  
  
"You were chosen for a reason. You are special. One of the chosen few. It used to be the chosen one but I managed to muck up that system. OK now the thing about being a slayer is you get to have a watcher. Usually a stodgy older British man with an inflated sense of superiority and books. Lots and lots of books." Buffy smiled and gestured to Giles who was scowling at her. "Take it away stodgy older British man." She told him and looked towards him expectantly. Giles frowned at her for a moment then turned his attention to Kia, leaning forward and straightening his glasses.  
  
"All right. As Buffy told you, you are a slayer. Being that entails having heightened strength, speed, agility, senses, and such. It also means that you have a sacred duty. A destiny which you can't really get out of. I know its not really fair but there is nothing I can do about it. The slayers are usually governed by a group called the watchers council. They over see everything. They are the ones who informed us that you were the slayer and asked us to travel from California to kind of introduce you to your calling." Giles explained. Kia nodded slightly then looked up at Giles contemplatively.  
  
"How do I know your not just making all of this up?" she asked. Giles nodded and gestured for spiked to some forward. Spike stood in front of Kia and waited.  
  
"This is why." Giles said and spike let his demonic visage come to the fore. Kia jerked back startled and stared awed up at the ridges of spike's face, his gold eyes and the sharp teeth.   
  
"Oh." She replied. Buffy smiled and patted Kia's hand.  
  
"Yeah its a little wiggy at first. Now just because spike's a vampire doesn't necessarily make him evil. The verdict is still out on that one for him. I will be happy to tell you the whole spike story later but for now you should probably get home. Since you were called you have become a target for allot of demons who would just love to take out a slayer. The council says that they have adopted you. Going to be legal starting tomorrow. If you would like, we would like for you to come back to Cali with us. We live on a hell mouth so you'll get some on job education." Buffy told her with a wry grin. Kia smiled back shyly and nodded.  
  
"I would like that. I don't have anything keeping me here." She said and a dark shadow crossed her face but was gone just as quickly. But Buffy noticed it and saw the hard sharp look in her eyes after it had passed. The look quickly softened and was gone but Buffy stored that tid bit of information away for some other time. Kia stood and straightened out her skirt. Buffy also stood and smiled gently at the girl.  
  
"Where should we meet tomorrow?" the girl asked seeming nervous again. Buffy looked to Giles who answered.  
  
"We are staying at a hotel just a few blocks from here, do you know where the Hilton is?" Giles asked. Kia nodded her head yes and looked studiously away from anyone's eyes. "We should meet there about four, will you be done with school by then?" he asked. Kia nodded again but she seemed distracted, her eyes were trained on the shadows just beyond the tree line to their left. Buffy looked at the spot and instantly the familiar feeling raced across the pit of her stomach that signaled vampires. Buffy stepped up next to Kia, close but not touching.  
  
"What do you feel?" she asked softly. Without looking away from the shadows Kia answered.  
  
"Hunger. I smell blood." She whispered, barely audible. Buffy's eyes widened and she looked taken back. She glanced at spike for conformation. He nodded.  
  
"She's right. They must have a fresh kill." He told buffy. Buffy and spike began moving at the smae time in perfect counter point to each other towards the shadows. Giles willow and Tara trailed after them in a loose hunting formation that had become second nature to them. After a moments hesitation Kia followed. As they got closer two dark figures became visible crouched over a prone body. A twig snapped under willows foot and the figures jerked to attention snarling their rage at being interrupted. One of them sprang at willow and Tara and was immediately set upon by buffy and spike. The other one made as if it was going for Giles then changed its trajectory in a spilt second and leapt for Kia. Kia waited until the last possible second then stepped to the side. The vampire flew past her and into a tree. Buffy and spike had dispatched their vampire and turned to watch Kia. She spun around faster than they had ever seen a human move and sent her foot crashing into the back of the vampires skull smashing it into the tree and splitting it open like a rotten melon.   
  
"You have to stake him!" buffy shouted. Kia looked up and buffy tossed a stake to the girl. Kia caught it one handed and smoothly sent it whistling down into the vampires heart. The body exploded into ash and settled on the ground. Kia stood for a few seconds staring at the pile watching some of it get blown away in the wind. Then her knees buckled and she sat down on the ground hard. Giles got to her first and knelt beside the visibly shaken girl. Her face was paler than normal and her eyes were wide.  
  
"T-t-t-tha..." she was stammering so hard she couldn't even finish her sentence. Buffy was immediately by the girls side and wrapped her arms around Kia's shoulders. Kia clutched the arms around her for a few moments letting her self take comfort from them. Tara spike and willow went over to the victim and examined him. It was an elderly homeless man. Buffy helped Kia to her feet and they went over to the body. A small strangled croak came from Kia's throat and she sank down to her knees next to the body.  
  
"Oh ivan. I play chess with him every Thursday. He's always so nice, a little crazy but nice." She said, her voice sounding thick. Kia gently brushed the man's open eyes shut and stood.  
  
"I think I'm gonna go home now." She said blandly and walked away from the group. Her arms wrapped tightly around her torso hugging herself. Buffy made a move to go after her but spike stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Let her go. This is something you can't help her with. Give her time." He told her and gently pulled her away.  
  
Kia wandered the empty city streets till well after midnight knowing that she should go back to the dorms but not wanting to face all the questions. Eventually her feet led her to the front steps of the old tall building with its gargoyles and ancient stone. Only a few lights lit the multitude of windows along the massive stony face this late at night. Suddenly Kia found herself unable to place her foot on the first step leading to the front door. Instead her body turned and went past the building towards the large catholic cathedral adjacent to the dorms and the school building at a dead run. She burst through the side door she knew was always open and ran through the dark church, her way lit only by a few random scattering of candles. She collapsed at the base of the tall stone figure of the virgin Mary, the only thing she had believed in her whole life. Kia looked up at the carved face of the virgin mother and the tears she had been holding back before burst out of her in a hot flood.  
  
"Why me? What did I do? What did I do to deserve this? I didn't do anything wrong. God... I didn't do anything." She sobbed and turned her eyes away from the bland white face that stared down at her with shallow benevolence. Kia wasn't especially religious but her mother had raised her catholic with the belief that god had a plan for everyone, even some one 'as useless and lazy as Kia was'.   
  
"Be good for me Kia. Don't do anything bad while I'm gone. God is watching you Kia. He whispers in my ear." She would say that every night before she went to work. Kia would always nod dumbly but inside her head she was screaming.  
  
"If god is watching then why are you still here?" but Kia never said those words out loud. She just turned away from her mother's retreating back and began to clean the house and prepare herself for the beating that came every night when her mother came home. She accepted her mothers fury every night when she came home, her head full of fire and her veins full of liquor. She took it all with a steely resolve and retreated back to her room to nurse her wounds once her mother had spent her strength with weighty blows. Kia remembered that last night. Her mother had come home totting her new flame, some over weight greasy pig like man she had picked up from the bar where she worked. Once the man finished with her mother he came into Kia's room. It had been dark, the only light came from the dim streetlight filtering through her curtains. He had leered at her and pressed the cold barrel of his pistol into the base of Kia's skull as he spread his stagnant weight over her frail body. Kia had kicked him off of her and knocked him down before running from the apartment. The man had followed her laughing crazily as blood poured from his nose. She had lost him before she entered the park and spent a few cold miserable hours on a park bench near the chess tables and the arch de triomph that towered over the cold blue lit path. She had returned to the apartment and gone to her mothers room. Her mother was sprawled on the bed, her eyes wide and staring, blood dripping from her fingertips and an empty hypodermic needle still stuck in the ravaged and track marked flesh of her inner arm. Kia had knelt beside her mother and gently stroked her long deep red hair, so much like Kia's . This was like the fall of Lucifer. Lucifer did not storm from heaven in a righteous rage followed by violent whirlwinds and imps. No he lay broken and bleeding on the rocks of the earth weeping blood for his sins and his expulsion from the light. Kia wiped away the salty trails of her tears and straightened into a kneeling position before the stone effigy. She looked up at the carved face once again and a tiny gasp escaped her lips. In the corner of the lovingly carved lines of Mary's eye a spot of blood peaked and ran down the smooth white expanse of the statues cheek. It was immediately followed by another and another now the blood traced from both eyes, gleaming black in the dim candle light. Kia got up and ran from the church leaving behind the deity that weeped blood for Kia's sins. 


	6. wait for it

A/N: hey everyone. i just realized that i had not written an author note on any of my chapters so ar so i thought i would start to. ok first of i would like to thank the people who reviewed me. you guys kick ass. specifically clockstopper who gave me some really good techincal adivce and my always lovely and most favorite reviewer in the world matriaya. love ya honey. ok and the song that Kia sings in... i think its chapter five is 'on my own' by The Used. and awesome band. and yes i will be putting alot of songs/ singing into my fic becuase i loved 'once more with feeling' and i want to add my own version into the fanfic. once again thanks to everybody who reviewed and read me. so please review as much as you can otherwise i might not have the motivation to spend alot of time at my computer getting wrist cramps in the proccess of writing. byes! RTF  
  
  
  
Buffy lay awake in her over soft hotel bed listening muffled noises of willow and Tara in the other room. They had gotten back to the hotel and immediately went to their rooms not talking about the events of the night by some unspoken consensus. Giles retreated to his room and spike to his, willow and Tara to the one they shared and Buffy to hers. Buffy had been staring at the ceiling for almost an hour now and still hadn't made up her mind whether or not she was going to go to spike's room. Buffy cast a glance at the clock and made up her mind. I'm going to stay right here, get a good night's sleep. She smiled happy at finally making a decision and rolled over closing her eyes to sleep.  
  
  
  
Her newfound resolve lasted all of a two minutes before she groaned and got out of bed. Buffy crept down the hall to spike's door and hesitated for a second before gently rapping her knuckles against the barrier.   
  
"Spike?" she called softly. The door creaked open and a sleepy eyed shirtless spike stood before her, jeans riding low on his hips, curly hair sleep tousled and dark blue eyes glowing down at her.   
  
  
  
"Buffy? What's the matter?" spike asked concerned. Buffy didn't answer him just stared fixedly at his bare chest with a wicked light in her eyes. Spike swallowed hard and tried again, simultaneously willing away certain over eager parts of his anatomy that responded whenever she was near.  
  
  
  
"Buffy? BUFFY!" spike exclaimed. Buffy snapped out of her trance and looked up at spike.   
  
  
  
"Huh?" she asked dazed. Spike chuckled and smirked at her.  
  
  
  
"You need something luv?" he asked while doing that thing with his tongue against his teeth that had always made Buffy's mouth go dry. Buffy started to speak then froze realizing that in all of her mental arguing she had not actually thought this far ahead.   
  
  
  
"Um...I was just, I... I couldn't sleep." She muttered ungraciously. Spike chuckled again and opened the door for her to enter.  
  
  
  
"Your more than welcome pet." He told her. Buffy rolled her eyes at him but entered. Spike closed the door behind her and they moved to the bed. It seemed that as soon as she got into the room buffy couldn't keep her eyes open and yawned widely while spike settled himself between the sheets again. Buffy slid under them and curled up against his body in the same position she had adopted the first night and the one she had used the night after when she had gone to his crypt once willow tara and dawn were asleep. Spike reached over and clicked the light off then his hand settled on the small of her back, rubbing soothing circles into the cloth covered flesh. Buffy sighed contentedly and nestled her face against his chest, enjoying the smooth firm muscle beneath her cheek.   
  
  
  
"I wish we didn't have to do this." Buffy said softly. Spike frowned at her in the dark.  
  
  
  
"What? Sleep?" he asked confused. Buffy laughed.  
  
  
  
"No, activate a new slayer. Did you see the look on her face? That guy must have been really important to her." Buffy said her vice turning sad. Spike nodded and cuddled buffy closer to his body.  
  
  
  
"And the vampire. She cracked his skull open like an egg. I don't even think you or I could do that, unless we were really brassed off. Her kicks were pinpoint accurate. She's been trained before this." He told her. Buffy nodded.  
  
  
  
"But she hasn't had to use it often obviously. She was so freaked. I hate doing this to her. She doesn't deserve this much pain." Buffy sounded close to tears. Spike sighed hating to have to say this but knowing he had to.  
  
  
  
"Buffy love she was built for it. So were you. You got the lucky end of it. You have friends and family. She got the shit kicked out of her by her mother on a regular basis. This is what she has been waiting for her whole life. This will help complete her." He said not sure where those last words came from. Buffy sighed not wanting to acknowledge the truth in his statements. She instead switched it to another aspect of the girl.  
  
  
  
"She was so shy. I've never met a slayer like that. I mean Kendra was a little shy around boys but I think part of that was just conditioning. And her singing. She was incredible." Buffy said remembering the girls performance. Spike nodded his agreement.  
  
  
  
"Cut right to the bone she did. Made you feel it, right here. Even me." He said and laid his hand over his un-beating heart. His finger tips were two inches away from Buffy's face. Unconsciously her hand came up and gently stroked the flesh on the upturned back of his hand. Buffy watched as her hands moved of their own accord running from his hand to the ridges of his collar bones. Against his will spike's eyes drifted closed and the deep rumble that had become slightly familiar to buffy welled up in his chest. Buffy smiled against his bare chest and gently rubbed in the hollow of his throat.  
  
  
  
"You know I always wanted a kitty cat." She couldn't help but mock him. Spike ignored the jab and curled closer, giving buffy better access to his collar bones. She lightly scratched at the farthest one and she felt the muscles in his torso twitch against hers. She ran the tips of her fingers down the line between his pectoral muscles and the defined muscles of his stomach. Spike let out a tiny moan and buffy looked up at his face. A blissful smile lit on his beautiful features and buffy ran her fingers more firmly along his stomach. This was just to good to resist.  
  
  
  
"Aww, does kitty like to have his stomach rubbed?" she asked. That caused spike to open his eyes and he looked down at her. A wicked smirk curved his lips and buffy found herself breathless for a second. Spike just smiled wider and in a single fluid incredibly quick movement he flipped them over so that he was hovering above her body. Her heart began to beat a little faster and spike ran his finger tips along her jaw and down the long column of her throat. Her eyes drifted shut and his hand slipped down wards running along her bare arm and barely brushing the side of her breast as it came down and began to draw lazy circles on the curve of her hip.  
  
  
  
"Buffy..." he asked questioningly. Buffy's eyes fluttered open and she found herself drawing in the dark of his eyes. Spike's hand drifted a little lower and began caressing her stomach right above the waist band of her pajama pants. Buffy knew what he was asking and gave a barely perceptible nod. Spike leaned in and gently brushed his lips across hers. Buffy followed his mouth as he retreated and her hand drifted up to the back of his head pulling him down for a searing kiss that seemed to last forever. Buffy broke away after an eternity gasping for air but almost immediately she went back missing him. Spike brushed his tongue against her lips seeking entrance that was immediately granted. He slipped his tongue into her mouth and tangled it with hers. Buffy was concentrating so hard on the taste and feel of spike's mouth that she didn't notice where his hand was going until it hit its destination underneath her pajama bottoms. Her mouth tore away from his in a gasp and she arched her hips towards his hand. Spike buried his face in the soft warmth of her neck and lovingly kissed it sucking on the sensitive spot at the beginning of her shoulder while his hand worked magic at the apex of her thighs. When she felt one long elegant finger slip into her she let out a strangled cry and her body shuddered beneath his. Her hands became mobile all at once and wrapped around his body pulling him closer to her and feeling the strong rippling muscles in his back. She pulled him in for another earth shaking kiss but this time he pulled away after a few seconds.   
  
  
  
"Buffy." He said softly but it managed to break through her post orgasmic haze.  
  
  
  
"Huh?" she said and her voice cracked slightly as she felt the last ripple of her pleasure break over her. Spike's hand slipped out of her pajama bottoms and she actually grabbed it trying to keep it where it had been. Spike smiled slightly and gently stroked the side of Buffy's face.  
  
  
  
"Buffy, we shouldn't go any farther." He told her mentally kicking himself even as he said it. Buffy frowned.  
  
  
  
"Um...why not?" she asked confused and sounding a little insecure. Spike instantly picked up on it.  
  
  
  
"Because I love you and I think we might actually have a chance with this. I don't want to muck It up by moving too fast." He explained even as every cell in his body screamed at him to keep going until they were both satisfied. Buffy nodded seeing the logic in his words even though her body ached for him. And if she wanted to be truthful it wasn't just her body, she ached for him with her whole being, in a way that almost scared her. Spike gently kissed her and she smiled against his lips. He laid back and buffy resumed her position against his body. Then she lifted her head and frowned.  
  
  
  
"Wait what about you?" she asked sending a glance to the erection he was sporting evident in the confines of his pants. He smiled.  
  
  
  
"Next time. This was for you." He told her. Buffy smiled a little giddily and rested her head back down. She was asleep in seconds, the events of the day as well as her most recent exertions making her exhausted. Spike took a deep breath and cuddled closer more comfortable then he had ever been in his life even though his pants were stretched a little tight. He fell asleep soon after with his arms wrapped tightly around Buffy's small powerful body and his face buried in her golden crown.   
  
  
  
Willow woke at ten the next morning with her arms wrapped around Tara's soft body. Tara woke when willow shifted against her and smiled gently kissing the tip of willow's nose.  
  
  
  
"Mmmm, this is how every day should start." She said and willow kissed her softly. They both got out of bed and began to get dressed. They heard a muffled curse across the hall and giggled knowing that Giles had just woken up. They left the room and ran into Giles in the hallway.   
  
  
  
"Should we wake buffy and spike?" tara asked sending a glance to the door of spike's hotel room. Giles frowned thoughtfully.  
  
  
  
"They don't really need to be up for a while." He said. Willow nodded.  
  
  
  
"Yeah but we really do need to talk. And what's a better way to talk then while stuffing your face with pancakes?" she asked and went over to the closed door.  
  
  
  
"Buffy? Spike?" she called and rapped on the door with her knuckles. Giles and tara had come up behind her. Through the door they heard spike said something and buffy responded, then they jumped back as something hit the door from the inside. Tara giggled and bit her lip.  
  
  
  
"Spike?" she called through the door, "you guys up?" she called through the door. They listened again and heard the bed creak then some one run into a piece of furniture and spike yanked the door open glaring at them all through sleep dazed eyes. Willow smiled.  
  
  
  
"Breakfast." She said. Buffy appeared behind spike and frowned at the three people in front of her.  
  
  
  
"What's up?" she yawned and looked at them expectantly. Giles smiled at them.  
  
  
  
"De-briefing, and pancakes." He told them. Buffy smiled beatifically and pushed spike out the door. Then she realized that he was half naked.  
  
  
  
"Oh sorry spike." She said and disappeared back into the room a black tee-shirt came flying out and hit him in the face. Spike scowled and pulled the shirt over his head. The group wandered down to the breakfast after retrieving the blood that the council had made available for spike and bringing it down with them. After getting food they settled down at one of the round tables and dug in. Buffy forked a bite of pancake into her mouth with a blissful expression.  
  
  
  
"Mmm, I didn't know I was so hungry. Guess last night really took a lot out of me." She said. Willow and tara tried to keep straight faces, really they did, but spike's hotel room was just on the other side of theirs from Buffy's and hotel wall were notoriously thin. Spike leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Buffy cast her eyes down and her cheeks flamed. Giles studiously ignored the entire exchange.   
  
  
  
"So," buffy started, desperate for a topic change, "what did you guys think of Kia?" she asked. Giles sighed and removed his glasses to clean them on the hem of his shirt.  
  
  
  
"She was unusual to say the least. Never met a slayer that was shy. They tend to be rather extroverted." He said. Tara nodded.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, did any one else see the cowering? It looked like she was cowering. And how she never looked at any of us when she spoke?" tara mused. Buffy nodded.  
  
  
  
"Yeah but then when the vampire came at her she didn't even flinch till she had staked him. Spike thinks she had probably been trained before this." Buffy told them and looked at spike. Spike nodded.  
  
  
  
"She seemed to be stuck on auto pilot when she staked him. The movements were engrained into her from years of practice." He explained. Giles nodded and seemed about to say something then a voice came over the intercom system.  
  
  
  
"Would Rupert Giles please report to the front desk? Rupert Giles to the front desk please." The crackly female voice ordered. Giles got to his feet and exited the restaurant area. He came back seconds later followed by Kia. Giles moved back to his chair after fetching one for Kia. Kia didn't move to sit though. She stood just off to one side of the table and took a deep breath as though steeling her self for something.  
  
  
  
"I want to go with you." 


	7. never smelled so good

A/N: ha ha ha! did you like the last chapter? i normally wouldn't make them get together so early on in the fic but i know it would make matriaya happy so i am willing to make some sacrafices. and about this next chapter i know practically nothing about the adoption process so i am just writing what would make sense to me and if all else fails i will jsut claim that the council is very persuasive. ok well once again. review please! make me happy. if you don't something really bad might happen to spike... like castration or the duster getting caught in a wood chipper. don't think i wouldn't. ok i wouldn't hurt the duster, i was totally bluffing. or was i.... (insert evil laughter here) ~ RTF  
  
  
  
"I want to go with you." She said, her thick Irish brogue becoming even more pronounced along with the waver in her voice. Buffy smiled encouragingly at Kia as did willow and tara. Spike just gave the girl a half grin and watched her closely. Giles cleared his throat and gestured to the chair. Kia took the seat and sat stiffly waiting for his reaction.  
  
  
  
"Well that's wonderful. Do you have any idea when you will be able to leave?" he asked. Kia nodded and looked down at the cloth covered table.  
  
  
  
"The...council...worked everything out. Guardian ship is being transferred over to you, all you have to do is sign some papers and I'm ready. I'm already packed. They let me skip mass this morning to get ready." She explained, obviously uncomfortable with having to speak that much. Giles nodded and patted the girl's hand comfortingly.  
  
  
  
"Perfect. Well lets get that taken care of, if that's alright with you. Where do we have to go?" he asked.  
  
  
  
"Back to St. Peters and to the dorm, to pick up my bags." She said softly, her voice losing its strength the more she spoke. Giles nodded and stood. Kia immediately stood up after him .  
  
  
  
"we'll go get that taken care of right now. Will you all go get ready to leave. We will be back later." He said and he and Kia left.   
  
  
  
Giles followed Kia down several streets and through a couple of alleys until they reached the front gates of the campus. She led him across the parking lot to a large quad. There were several younger children playing under the supervision of a nun in a black habit. One of the children looked up from a very intense game of soccer and came running over to them with obvious glee in his eyes.   
  
  
  
"Kia!" he shouted and leapt at the young girl. Kia caught him easily and lifted him up onto her hip. The boy was maybe five years old with bright blue eyes and a mop of curly brown hair. He was dressed in a uniform much like Kia's only the skirt was exchanged for a pair of gray shorts. Kia was smiling widely and Giles grinned as well. The young boys enthusiasm was infectious.  
  
  
  
"Now Michael, you know your not supposed to leave the quad." She teased him. The boy nodded and sent an adorable puppy dog face in her direction. Kia laughed and swung the boy to her other hip.  
  
  
  
"Oof! Your getting to big to be carried!" she told him and turned back to Giles.  
  
  
  
"Mr. Giles. This is Michael. Michael, this is mister Rupert Giles. He's adopting me." She introduced them. The little boys eyes grew wide and he looked up at Kia.  
  
  
  
"Your gettin' adpotted?" he said amazed. Kia chuckled.  
  
  
  
"Adopted, and yes I am. Big shock aye?" she said and they began walking across the quad. Giles followed amazed at the drastic change in Kia's demeanor.  
  
  
  
"Does that mean your gonna go away?" the boy asked Kia sounding worried. Kia sighed.  
  
  
  
"Yes, but I'll write you all the time and I'll come back to visit when I can. I promise." She told him. Michael sniffed and hugged Kia tighter as they walked. Giles sighed.  
  
  
  
"I promise I'll take good care of her." He ventured. Michael turned a surprisingly hard steely gaze to Giles.  
  
  
  
"You better or I'm gonna be really mad." He threatened. Kia giggled and ruffled Michael's hair with one hand.  
  
  
  
"Michael, ill be fine." She said as they reached the nun who was sitting on a bench surrounded by young children. She was reading to them from a slim green covered book. The elderly woman looked up and smiled at Kia.  
  
  
  
"Oh did Michael run away again?" she said with a motherly smile. Kia nodded and set the boy on his feet. Michael gave Kia one last hug and ran off to rejoin the soccer game.   
  
  
  
"He just didn't want me to leave without saying good bye." She explained. A general cry of dismay rose up from the children at the nun's feet.  
  
  
  
"You leavin' Kia?" said a small girl in a gray and black plaid jumper. Kia nodded.  
  
  
  
"Yes, but ill write to you all the time." She repeated the same promise she gave to Michael. The nun stood slowly and moved towards Kia.  
  
  
  
"So you'll be leaving us for better places eh' young one?" the nun asked and enfolded Kia in a hug. Kia nodded again. The nun let her go and turned her sharp gray eyes to Giles giving him the once over.  
  
  
  
"Are you the man taking our Kia from us?" she asked scrutinizing him. Giles felt a little uncomfortable under the old woman's gaze.  
  
  
  
"I will be adopting her. I promise I will take good care of her." He promised. The old woman looked at him for a beat then nodded.  
  
  
  
"Yes I think you will." She said then turned back to Kia.   
  
  
  
"Good bye dear. Take good care of yourself." She said and one gnarled old finger came up and traced a symbol on Kia's smooth pale forehead. Giles immediately recognized the rune uruz for strength. The finger drifted to Kia's right cheek and traced eihwaz for defense, then to Kia's left cheek and algiz for protection then down to the hollow of Kia's throat and oddly enough traced the upward arrow of tiawaz for warrior. The old woman kissed Kia on each cheek and smiled benevolently.  
  
  
  
"Stay safe child." She said and Kia nodded. She motioned to Giles and they headed back on the path towards a large brick building connected to a church and another building Giles assumed was the school. They went up the front steps and into the first floor which seemed to be for administration. Kia led him past the front desk to a small office with a closed door. Kia knocked and poked her head in.  
  
  
  
"Sister Ruth?" she asked softly. A female voice beckoned them in and they entered. A middle aged woman in a nun's habit was seated behind a large worn oak desk covered in papers.   
  
  
  
"Ah Miss Finnegan, I suppose you've brought along...Mr. Giles is it?" she said looking past Kia at Giles who hovered in the door way.  
  
  
  
"Yes ma'am." She said and flopped down in a chair. Giles sat in the chair beside her and smiled pleasantly at the nun.  
  
  
  
"Yes ma'am I am Rupert Giles. I am told there are some papers I need to sign?" he said with an amiable smile. The sister nodded and pulled out a few papers stapled together.  
  
  
  
"This is the standard release form. Everything else has been arranged." She told him then looked to Kia.  
  
  
  
"Well Finnegan I can't say I'm sorry to see you go. I only hope you get in less trouble where your going. I hope I don't see you back here anytime soon as a resident." The woman said a little harshly. Kia seemed to retreat into her self a little and nodded, her eyes cast downward again. Giles' gaze sharpened slightly and his jaw tightened. He felt like he had lost something when Kia switched back into the reclusive shell she had presented when he first met her.  
  
  
  
"I'm sure she will do fine. I have enjoyed the talks I've had with her so far." Giles said a little more sternly than normal. Kia flicked her gaze up to him and a small smile played on her lips. The nun seemed a little taken back but quickly recovered. She snatched the signed papers back from Giles and filed them away.  
  
  
  
"Well that was all we needed to do. Miss Finnegan, once you have retrieved you belongings please return your room key to sister Laura. Have a nice day." She said curtly and began to sift through papers on her desk. Kai got up and went towards the door. Giles also stood and followed. They left the office and went to a large stairwell. Kia blew out a large breath and trotted up the stairs to the first floor. Giles followed and sniffed indelicately.  
  
  
  
"Horrid woman." He said softly. Kia snorted then clapped a hand over her mouth looking like for the world like a five year old girl caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Giles smiled at her and they went to the last door at the end of the long hard wood corridor. Kia took out a key and opened the door. Giles followed her into a small room that had been stripped bare. Kia picked up one large stuffed duffle bag and a bunch of rolled up posters. She smiled at him and turned to leave. Giles balked slightly.  
  
  
  
"Is that all you have?" he asked. Kia nodded.  
  
  
  
"I left my guitar at the front desk before I left." She told him and they left after she had locked the door again. They went down the stairs and past the office area to a half moon shaped desk. Kia tossed the key to a younger sister who caught it and handed the large black guitar case over the counter.  
  
  
  
"Good luck Kia!" she called as Kia headed out. Kia smiled a tiny smile at her and they left the building.   
  
  
  
Kia didn't say a word until after they had gotten to the sidewalk beyond the gates. Kia set down her guitar case and inhaled deeply. Giles immediately took possession of the guitar case so she wouldn't have to carry it and looked questioningly at her.  
  
  
  
"What?" he asked. Kia half smiled at him and shrugged.  
  
  
  
"Was just thinking that new York never smelled so good." She told him. Giles laughed. 


	8. one last sunset

Buffy looked up when Giles enter his small hotel room carrying a guitar case followed by Kia holing a duffle bag and some rolled up posters. After breakfast they had all gotten ready and congregated in Gile's room to wait. Giles and Kia set down the bags and Giles sat down with a weary sigh in one of the heavily cushioned chairs in the room. Willow and Tara looked up from the magazine they were examining and smiled at Kia and Giles.  
  
"How did it go?" She asked with a smile at the other shy red head. Giles nodded and began cleaning his glasses.  
  
"Very well I think. We got everything signed and Kia is ready to go as soon as we leave." Giles informed them. Kia leaned down and pulled a worn army issue green messenger bag out or the larger duffle and slung it over her shoulder.  
  
"I'm gonna go for a walk." She said quickly and practically ran out of the room. Giles looked at the partially open door Kia had left through. Buffy moved to follow her but Spike shook his head.  
  
"No, give her time." He said softly. To everyone's surprise Buffy sighed and nodded, sitting back down in her chair. She glanced at the door and closed her eyes, her eyebrows furrowed with worry. God I wish we didn't have to do this. We are ruining this girl's life. She thought to her self. Spike saw the wave of pain and frustration cross over her face and gently took one of Buffy's clenched fists in his hand under the table. Buffy's eyes fluttered open and her hand instantly relaxed, her fingers curving to link her hand with his. Giles, willow, and Tara looked anywhere but at the two who were staring raptly into each other's eyes.  
  
"I'm gonna go get some more sleep." Willow said quickly, leaping up with a very fake yawn. Tara leapt up after her and nodded.  
  
"Yeah! Me too." They both left the room, then Giles gave a very real yawn and looked at Buffy and Spike who had let go of each other's hands and were staring at the floor. Giles ignored the obvious embarrassment and moved towards the bathroom.  
  
"You two should go get some more sleep yourselves. I'm going to." He said and the bathroom door closed behind him. Buffy and Spike shared a look and silently got up and walked out of the room together.  
  
Kia wandered the crowded New York streets to Inner speech to give them her resignation. Mary cried and hugged her. The owner, and older man named Ryan also hugged her and went to the back storeroom door. The one only he had a key for.  
  
"I've been expecting this. It was only a matter of time before you moved on. But we'll miss you Kia." He told her and pulled out a wide heavy hard guitar case. Kia looked at him confused and lifted the latches, pushing the top open. Kia's breath caught in her throat and she thought her heart skipped a beat. Inside the case on top of a sea of blood red velvet lay the most beautiful electric guitar she had ever seen. Raw black, sharp wicked points, and impossibly smooth curves. The calloused fingertips of her left hand stretched out and shakily she stroked the gleaming instrument.  
  
"I-Ibanez custom? Humbucker pickups. Lo-TRS two double locking tremolo?" she asked, her voice sounding hollow and tinny in her ears. Ryan nodded.   
  
  
  
"This is a $900 guitar." She informed them. Ryan and Mary nodded. Kia just stared at the guitar and continued stroking it reverently. Mary growled her frustration and snatched the guitar out of the case, shoving it into Kia's hands.  
  
"Ack!" Kia squawked and glared at Mary even as she ran her fingertips over the mother of pearl inlays in the fret board. Kia looked up at Ryan's kind old face that had become a staple in her life ever since she was fourteen and a half and Mary's wild beautiful one that was no less familiar with wide shocked eyes.  
  
"Do you like it?" Ryan asked softly and Kia burst into tears. In a rare display of affection Kia set down the guitar and flung her arms around the older man, burying her face in his shoulder. She hugged him so tightly he thought he felt his ribs squeak in protest but just hugged her back. She pulled away and threw herself at Mary who caught her and squeezed her till Kia could barely breath.  
  
"We love you kitten." She whispered into Kia's ear. Kia just sobbed harder and clung to Mary's lean body like she thought it would melt away. She pulled away slowly and sniffled a little. Kia closed the guitar case and locked it carefully then turned to Mary and Ryan again. They said their final goodbyes and Kia left, not able to stay for fear she would break down and cry again. Kia walked to the park and played three hours worth of chess games with gullible tourists to earn some extra cash. She came away with a little over eighty dollars.   
  
Kia then went to a second hand store just a few blocks from inner speech. She quickly bought a few pairs of ratty jeans that hung to big on her narrow hips and a few equally ratty sweatshirts. Some thread bare tee shirts and a couple of black beaters. She came out of the store wearing the same black sweater over white collared long-sleeved shirt but her bottom half was clad in a pair of black jeans three sizes to big for her, held up by virtue of a wide studded leather belt and her plain old combat boots. Her hair was tied up in a slopped bun at the back of her head with tendrils falling out all over the place cascading down her back. An unlit cigarette rested between two unpainted fingers. Kia adjusted the guitar strapped to her back and closed the clip of her bag, now stuffed with clothing. Kia deftly flicked open a silver Zippo and lit the cigarette. She inhaled deeply and let out a stream of diaphanous smoke.   
  
A young man coming out of the store behind her eyed her appreciatively. Kia stiffened and all of the sudden she felt exposed. Kia moved quickly down the street away from the boy relaxing only when she got around the corner. She took a comforting drag of her cigarette and her hand drifted up to the black and red rosary she had worn since she was ten. I can't ever escape it. I'm chained to it no matter how far away I get from this place. Kai dashed a bit of moisture from her left eye and went back towards the park to watch the sunset.  
  
Buffy yawned awake and raised her hand to rub the sleep from her eyes. Spike was sprawled half on top of her and snuggled closer when she shifted. His face nuzzling unconsciously into the hollow of her throat. Buffy sighed and her hand drifted down to rest on spike's bleached locks. She became much more awake when she felt spike's tongue dart out and barely lick the curve of one collar bone. Buffy shivered slightly and her head tilted back to give him better access. Spike nipped at her flesh and kissed the long column of skin.  
  
"Oh god." Buffy gasped when spike sucked on her sensitive pulse point.  
  
"Glad to know I've been promoted so quickly." He muttered against her skin. The mood was broken from something very serious to a more gentle teasing when Buffy laughed.  
  
"Well this has been some of the better sleep I've had. Even though it was only..." Buffy glanced at the clock and her eyes widened. "Seven hours! We've been in you bed for seven hours!" she exclaimed. Spike shrugged and went back to nuzzling her throat. Buffy's eyes drifted closed when he nibbled on her ear but only for a moment.  
  
"No Spike! Seven hours means that the suns gone down and we have to go check in with everybody. And that means clothes and defiantly showers." She told him and climbed out of bed. She walked towards the bathroom and looked back at the mostly naked man lying sprawled on the bed amidst a tangle of sheets.   
  
"Coming?" she asked innocently. Spike leapt up with a growl and chased her into the bathroom.  
  
Willow and Tara were sitting at the table in their room with Giles when Buffy and spike finally walked in. Willow looked slightly worried as she looked to Buffy and Spike.  
  
"Kia's not back yet." She said. Buffy frowned but Spike just shrugged.  
  
"Ill go get her." He said reassuringly and left the room. Spike barely had to go out of the building before he saw Kia coming up the street with a guitar case strapped to her back. Spike appraised her clothing an appearance before smiling.  
  
"Casting off the shackles, eh luv?" he said sounding amused. Kia sighed and lit a cigarette.  
  
"Yeah." She said but her hand rested on the rosary around her neck and her eyes told him a different truth. Spike leaned against the brick wall of the hotel and nodded.  
  
"I get that. You change everything, your looks your attitude, try to get rid of the voice in your head and when your done, you realize that your right back where you started only someplace completely different and a few blocks in the wrong direction." Kia looked at him for a beat as if gauging his truthfulness before a smile broke over her face like the sunrise, making her somberly beautiful features more human and warm.  
  
"More like a few miles." She replied. He nodded.  
  
"So who is your voice?" he chanced. Kia's smile vanished but her expression stayed warmer than before.  
  
"My mother." She said softly then looked at the cement.  
  
"Who is yours?" she asked. Spike's eyes drifted closed and his jaw tensed.  
  
"My father and my sire." He answered. Kia nodded. They stood in silence for a few minutes before Kia spoke again.  
  
"Your name is Spike right?" she asked. Spike nodded but the name sounded wrong coming from Kia.  
  
"My real name is William but nobody calls me that anymore." He told her, not quite knowing why. Kia smiled.  
  
"William. I like that." She told him. "Can I call you William?" Spike thought for a moment before nodding.  
  
"Do you have a nickname?" he asked a little more gruffly that he intended. Kia bit her lip and looked at the ground again.  
  
"Mary calls me kitten." She said thickly. Spike smiled slightly. At some unspoken signal Kia put out her cigarette and they went inside. Kia followed spike into willow and Tara's room and shut the door behind them. Buffy smiled at the young girl while spike took a seat on the edge of the bed.  
  
"Hey, have a nice walk?" she asked with an amused smile. Kia blushed slightly and removed the guitar case from her back and set it on the floor.  
  
"I had a few things to take care of." She explained quickly and sat down on the bed next to spike. Spike smiled and nudged Kia with his shoulder. Buffy watched the exchange and her eyes narrowed. Spike looked up and saw the all too familiar expression on Buffy's face. Kia saw it also and looked questioningly at spike. Spike shrugged and sent a loving smile at Buffy. Buffy's expression softened and she smiled back.  
  
"... And Buffy will help with training, right Buffy?" Giles finished, turning to Buffy. Buffy looked at Giles slightly startled, as did Kia and Spike, all three realizing that Giles had been speaking since Kia and Spike had returned.  
  
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Buffy asked Giles a little sheepishly. Giles sighed and removed his glasses, polished them on his shirttail and replaced them before speaking again.  
  
"I was saying that the council has arranged for us to leave tomorrow at eight pm. Since Kia had been adopted in my name she should most likely stay with me. The council has had her listed in state records as home schooled so as long as she can pass all the standard tests we shouldn't have a problem. We should start training her as soon as we can once we are settled in back home. Buffy, you will be willing to help with that right?" Giles asked her pointedly. Buffy nodded. "How does all this sound to you Kia?" Giles asked. Kai froze for a second with a shocked look on her face.  
  
"M-m-me? Um... I'm fine with whatever you guys decide." She said softly and nervously pulled on a lock of her long fiery hair, praying that she wouldn't have to speak again.  
  
"Now Kia," Giles began, Kia mentally cursed, "have you had any prior training? Gymnastics self defense, even dance would be-"   
  
"I'm a black belt in karate, kick boxing, and Tia Kwan Do. I speak Russian, Gaelic, Spanish, German, Latin, and proto Slavonic/old church Slavic. All fluently. My I.Q. is 173 and I failed AP calc last year. And I'm sure all of this is in my file, I'll be outside." Kia cut him off and spouted a long list before stomping off, muttering curse words in several of the languages she had just listed.  
  
Giles, willow, Tara, Buffy and Spike stared wide-eyed at Kia's retreating back and all visibly flinched when the door slammed behind her. 


	9. home again home again

Giles, Willow, Tara, Buffy and Spike stared wide-eyed at Kia's retreating back and all visibly flinched when the door slammed behind her.  
  
"Ok what just happened?" Buffy exclaimed.  
  
"This is probably really hard for her. All the questions. Everything happening so fast." Tara offered. Spike nodded.  
  
"She doesn't strike me as the most forth coming with her past." He agreed and looked towards Buffy. "Maybe Buffy should go talk to her?" he suggested. Buffy looked surprised but nodded.  
  
"Yeah sure. Ill be back." She said and went out the door. Kia was sitting on the top step of the stair well two doors down from Giles room at the end of the hallway. Buffy sat down next to the silent girl and looked at the large window across from them. Kia stared at the skyline visible through the tinted glass and tapped an unit cigarette on the top of her left hand.  
  
"What's wrong? You seem to storm out a lot." Buffy asked. Kai shrugged and her cigarette tapped faster. Buffy sighed and waived her hand in front of Kia's eyes. "Hey! Snap out of it! I can't help you if you don't tell me what the problem is!" she demanded.   
  
"You want to know what the problem is?" Kia asked, her voice was quiet and hard as cement. "This is happening to bloody fast. This huge massive thing is being forced down my throat and you just expect me to get it. And I don't."   
  
  
  
Her voice got a little louder and her accent grew more pronounced. Kia quickly snapped open her lighter and lit the cigarette in defiance of the large no smoking sign hanging in the stairwell. "Why me!" she asked suddenly turning to Buffy, her eyes pleading.   
  
  
  
"I'm not special, I'm nothing! I'm just a freak of nature with total recall. I'm not some divine warrior! You know for your information god HATES me, he's made it abundantly clear that he wants me to suffer for as long as possible before I collapse into a corner rocking back and forth babbling incoherently! I'm not a chosen one for anything. For Christ sake, I don't even get picked first for kickball." Kia informed her and took a deep drag off her cigarette. Buffy looked at her for a minute.  
  
"You done?" she asked. Kia smiled in spite of her self.  
  
"Yeah." She replied and they both giggled. Buffy sighed and gently reached out to brush a stray strand of hair out of Kia's eyes. Kia flinched away from Buffy's hand and quickly brushed it away on her own. Buffy smiled sadly at Kia.  
  
"What happened that made you so cynical?" she asked, half jokingly. Kia shrugged.  
  
" Sixteen years of being taught that god is either vengeful or dead hasn't really done much for my positive outlook." Kia said with a tiny smile. Buffy rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yeah well I can assure you that god isn't dead. I've seen way to many miracles to think that." Buffy assured her. Kia nodded.  
  
"Yeah you probably have. Although god must have a wacky sense of humor." Kai said with another smile. Buffy frowned.  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked. Kia smiled wider.  
  
"You and Spike? I mean god has got to be laughing at that. A vampire and a slayer in love." She said shaking her head in amazement. Buffy's eyes went wide.  
  
"H-h-how did? We were... we thought we were being so stealthy." Buffy said sounding worried. Kia laughed.  
  
"Oh no you were but you two smell like sex and each other so I kind of ran with it." Kia told them. Buffy sniffed her shirt slightly and frowned.  
  
"I don't smell anything." She said Kia shrugged.  
  
"Maybe you just can't tell because you're used to it. But once you two were in a room together it was obvious that you two had sex recently." Kia told her trying to keep the embarrassing quaver out of her voice that always showed up when she had a more than five-minute conversation with anyone. Buffy looked slightly embarrassed.  
  
"Spike and I haven't actually had sex yet." She said. Kia frowned and leaned towards Buffy. She inhaled deeply and smiled.  
  
"That's not what I smell." She told her with a smile. Buffy smiled also.  
  
"Well we haven't actually finished the act but all the stuff that comes before it we've done a couple of times over." Kia giggled a little then her face became more serious.  
  
"What's it like? Being a slayer?" she asked. Buffy frowned and searched for the right words to explain.  
  
"Its hard. And lonely, even with friends they can't really understand. I was one of the lucky ones. I have a family and people to tie me to the real world. Most slayers have just they're watchers and their calling. They die young. Most of us don't live past eighteen." Buffy told her. Kia took a drag of her cigarette and blew it out hard.  
  
"Well I didn't really have any plans past then any way." She said with grim good humor. Buffy smiled and gently touched Kia's hand. Kia managed to suppress the instinctual flinch and Buffy smiled.  
  
"Your lucky too. You have us. Spike, Giles, Willow and Tara and me. All my people. We are a pretty embracing group. There are even some more back home. Its kind of a secret identity deal, so you have to pick your friends carefully." Buffy explained. Kia nodded.  
  
"How many of you are there?" she asked.   
  
"It me, Giles, Willow, Tara, Xander who you haven't met yet and his fiancé Anya. She's a former demon. My little sister Dawn who is fifteen. She used to be a mystical key that opened a hell dimension. And Spike who you seem to be friends with already." Buffy informed her. Kia smiled.  
  
"Yeah. He's alright. He kind of gets it I think." Kia said. Buffy nodded and glanced back towards the hotel room.  
  
"Yeah, he does."   
  
Xander Anya and Dawn were waiting at the airport to pick up the group when they arrived. Buffy came through the doors first followed closely by Spike. Then came Willow, Giles, and Tara. Xander smiled and came forwards.  
  
"There's my girls!" he beamed and pulled Buffy, Willow, and Tara into a big group hug. Buffy smiled.  
  
"How was everything?" she asked. Xander shrugged.  
  
"Same old same old. No apocalypses while you were gone." He told them. Dawn hugged Buffy then Willow, then Tara, then to his surprise spike.  
  
"I'm glad you guys are back." She said and pulled Buffy into another hug. Xander glanced at the group expectantly.  
  
"Where is she?" he asked. Giles stepped out of the way revealing Kia who was trying her hardest to be invisible behind the older man.  
  
"Hi I'm Xander!" he said and pulled the shocked girl into a hug. Kia's eyes were wide and she looked over Xander shoulder at Spike who was shaking with suppressed mirth. Xander let her go and she smiled shakily.  
  
"Kia Finnegan." She greeted and smiled nervously at the others. Dawn came forward and stuck out her hand.  
  
"Hi I'm Dawn. Buffy's sister." She explained. Kia took her hand and shook it.  
  
"S'nice to meet you." She mumbled. Dawn cocked her eyebrow and glanced over at Buffy.  
  
"You sure this is a slayer? She's to quiet to be a slayer." Dawn said with a sly smile. Buffy mock scowled.  
  
"Hey. I take offence to that." She said and pulled her sister in for another hug. Kia faded into the background to watch as the group chatted and hugged both at a lighting fast rate. They were like a large family. Must be so nice. She thought a little bitterly.   
  
"So Kia, you like pizza?" Buffy's voice broke through the haze Kia's thoughts had built around her. Kia lifted her head and frowned.  
  
"Huh?" she asked. Buffy smiled.   
  
"Pizza. We were gonna head over to the magic box. That's Anya and Gile's store and get some pizza. I mean I know it's not as good as New York stuff but..." Buffy started to babble but they all looked surprised when Kia cut her off.  
  
"Sure. Sounds good." She said firmly. Dawn linked arms with Kia to the older girls surprise and led her off in front of the others talking at a rapid fire pace while Kia listened with growing interest. Giles walked ahead with Willow and Tara, closely followed by Xander and Anya. Buffy and Spike dropped back and when they were sure no one was watching their hands linked.  
  
"You owe me five bucks mister." Buffy muttered under her breath. "I told you Dawn would snatch her up in the first five minutes." Spike sighed and pulled a crumpled wad of ones out of his pocket.  
  
"Yeah well its not fair bettin' on your sister. You know more about her." He argued. Buffy grinned and gently rubbed the top of his hand with her thumb.  
  
"I'm glad were home." She said. Spike smiled and kissed the top of her head.   
  
"Me to luv." He agreed and they walked out of the terminal. 


	10. drifting

A/N: ok I'm sorry I haven't updated in like months but I've been really busy with school and such and completely forgot about it until one of my devoted fans (jojo) emailed me and told me to get my act together. So this is for you jojo I hope you enjoy the new chappies and don't get to mad at the huge time jump. Ok love you all. Oh and I realize I forgot to put a disclaimer at the beginning of my story so just for future reference the only characters that belong to me are Kia and Hunter, every one is property of joss and mutant enemy, and I grovel in the shadow of the might and the power that is joss. { SYMBOL 74 \f "Wingdings" \s 10}  
  
A year and a half later.... (He he he aren't I evil?)  
  
"Ugh. Research." Buffy moaned and her head flopped down onto the pages of the large dusty tome spread out before her. Willow Tara Buffy and Giles were all seated around the round table in the middle of the magic box in the early evening. Willow nodded.  
  
"Yeah, I love research and all but this is a bit much. There's nothing here." She proclaimed. Giles sighed and removed his small oval glasses, carefully polishing them on his shirt hem before replacing them on his nose.   
  
"I quite agree. But it just doesn't make sense. The hell mouth has been quite for almost six months now. Either that means the hell mouth is actually quieting down, which I highly doubt, or we are building up to something really big. And I don't want to be caught unawares." Giles told them and flipped open another book only to have a massive coughing fit when a cloud of dust rose from its aged yellow pages. The book snapped shut again and Giles stood up from his chair.  
  
"Alright that's it. I'm going for coffee. Anyone coming?" all three of the girls leapt to their feet and were half way out the door before Giles even made it to the counter to grab his keys.   
  
It had been almost a year and a half since the trip to New York. Things had changed drastically since Kia joined their little family. Anya and Xander got so sick of planning the wedding that three days before their date they eloped and got married in Vegas. Now they lived happily together in their apartment but were looking into houses in Buffy's neighborhood. Buffy and Spike went public with their relationship two weeks after they got back from the trip, not necessarily by choice. Xander and Anya caught them doing inappropriate things on the couch in the training room one night after a long research session. To every ones surprise Xander was not at all surprised. His exact words were "oh comon do you guys actually think I'm that clueless? They came back from the trip together. It was kind of obvious." He said with a 'no duh' tone in his voice. Spike moved into the house on Revellio a week later. Kia moved into the spare room at Giles and got a job at a used bookstore to fill up her spare hours. She went patrolling most nights and hung out with dawn the others. Kia started to open up a little more. Mostly with Spike and Dawn but even that was not much. Occasionally they dragged Kia to the bronze with them but not often. Kia seemed uncomfortable with the amount of male attention and a lot of female too when she went to public gatherings. The hell mouth had spewed at its normal rate for a while then it just seemed to stop. When before Kia and Buffy might have to be out for four hours a night to make a difference in the demon population now they were lucky to get it two kills a night.   
  
  
  
Willow, Tara, Buffy, and Giles walked down the sidewalk towards the expresso pump.  
  
"Does any one know where Kia is?" Tara asked. Giles shook his head.  
  
"She wasn't there when I got home but she left a note saying she would be back before midnight." He said sounding a little worried. Buffy patted Giles on the shoulder.  
  
"I'm sure she's fine. She can more than take care of herself." Buffy reassured him. Giles nodded and they went up the steps to the open-air building that was Sunnydale's most prosperous coffee house. They got their coffee and sat down at a table.   
  
"She does this a lot doesn't she." Buffy stated more than asked. Giles sighed.  
  
"I keep trying to get her to open up but it doesn't seem to work. I've tried being nice being angry being anything and nothing works. She's completely shut down." He said wearily. Willow shrugged.  
  
"She'll open up in her own time." She said but the words sounded hollow even to her own ears. The group fell silent. Tara looked over Giles shoulder and saw the slight red-haired girl walk in.  
  
"Oh there she is!" she said. Tara waived her over. Kia sat down next to Giles and smiled slightly.  
  
"Hey." She greeted. Buffy smiled.  
  
"So eighteen in a week. Got any plans?" she asked. Kia looked down and her cheeks turned red. Willow's eyes grew wide.   
  
"You do! Oh! Are they date related plans maybe?" she said eagerly. Kia's face turned almost as red as her hair. Giles looked sharply at the young girl.  
  
"You have a date?" he asked. Kia looked up.  
  
"Just me and Dawn and a couple of people. Not a big." Buffy frowned.  
  
"Dawn didn't mention anything, where are you guys going?" she asked. Kia smiled.  
  
"She said it was a surprise. And you know Dawn. I would need the jaws of life to pry a secret from that girl." Kia said and stole a sip of Giles cappuccino. Giles frowned sternly at Kia.  
  
"Who are these other people?" he asked. Kia looked up at him.  
  
"Janice and a couple of people I don't know. Um I'll ask Dawn." Kia said quickly and stood. "Buffy I'll patrol tonight if it's ok." She said and Buffy nodded. Kia smiled at Giles and left. Giles sighed again.  
  
"You all grow up to fast." He said mournfully. Buffy giggled.  
  
"Giles the girls almost eighteen and I doubt she's ever been alone in a room with a boy let alone on a date. I really wouldn't worry."   
  
Kia let out a little 'oof' as she smashed into the brick wall behind her. The vampire in front of her lunged in for the kill and she flipped him off of her. Another one slammed into her from the side and she hit the ground with an audible thud. She stared into yellow fire eyes and smelled old blood on the vampire's breath. A sudden lethargy seemed to filter into her body and her eyes drifted closed as the vampire's fangs descended on her throat.   
  
She had been fighting for almost a half an hour the vampires had numbered almost eleven in the beginning and now it was down to these last two. She had fought hard but something inside her clicked and she stopped. She could feel the vampire press his fangs against her throat. Then the vampire was gone. She looked down at her hands and saw a thin layer of dust covering them and the stake that had appeared in them. She laid there and watched the last vampire growl at her and run. She lay on the cool grass of the cemetery for a few long minutes before she got to her feet.   
  
A wet trickle raced down her throat and she brought her fingers to her neck. They came away rosy with blood. Kia walked slowly back towards Giles house. Her mind was reeling. She had been ready to die, no, not just ready, she wanted it. Kia couldn't believe it had actually happened but for those few seconds before she brought her stake up she had given up. Craving the darkness that it would bring. Kia shoved those thoughts to the back of her mind and walked more quickly.   
  
  
  
Buffy and Spike were walking away from the back door of the bronze when Buffy caught sight of a familiar longhaired red head.   
  
"Kia!" she shouted and she and Spike sprinted to catch up with the girl who was shuffling down the road with her arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Spike tapped Kia on the shoulder and she turned slightly.  
  
"Hey guys." She said smiling, Buffy smiled back but there was a slight frown in her eyes.  
  
"You ok Kia?" she asked. Kia nodded vigorously and pushed her hair back from her face.  
  
"Yeah I'm just a little tired, actually got a little vampy action tonight. But I think they were from out of town..." she trailed off at the expression on spike's face.  
  
"You're bleeding." He said blandly. Kia automatically reached for her neck and smiled weakly.  
  
"Yeah, um, one got in a lucky shot, just a scrape." She said while Buffy pulled her hand away and pushed Kia's hair out of the way.   
  
"Kia this isn't just a scrape. This cut is pretty deep." Buffy said worried. Spike inspected the wound while Kia tried not to meet either of their eyes.   
  
"No finesse. Sloppy. Kia was it a fledgling?" he asked sounding a little angry. Kia shrugged.  
  
"I don't know, there was eleven of them so I got a little to preoccupied to take their status!" Kia exclaimed angry and stalked off. Buffy and Spike trotted after her and Buffy fell in step beside her.  
  
"You all right Kia?" she asked again. Kia nodded.  
  
"Yeah I'm just a little mad that I actually let one of em' get that close." She said and pulled a cigarette out of her coat pocket. She tried to light it but her hands were shaking to badly to get the lighter lit. Spike steadied her hands and she took a deep drag of the smoke.  
  
"Thanks." She said and blew the pale mist out through her nose. Buffy and Spike followed Kia back to Giles to make sure she got home safely and then headed back to Revellio drive and their bed. The shut the door tightly behind them and began to get ready for bed.   
  
"Something isn't right here. No vamps for a week and all of the sudden she's jumped by a big group of out of towners." Buffy sighed as she pulled her hair out of its ponytail. Spike nodded.   
  
"Your right. There's been this odd feeling in the back of my mind for most of the week. And Kia's birthday is tomorrow. This is just a little too coincidental for my taste." He told her and peeled his shirt off his back. Buffy smiled at him gently and wrapped her arms around his bare torso.   
  
"I love you so much." She told him in a whisper. Spike clutched her tightly to him and buried his face in her golden locks.  
  
"I know baby. I love you too. Now lets get some sleep. We can worry about Kia tomorrow." He told her. Buffy nodded and they continued preparing for sleep.  
  
Giles was asleep by the time Kia got in. Spike and Buffy had walked her to the door then gone home but Kia didn't go inside the small apartment immediately. Instead she lingered out in the courtyard for nearly half an hour, her eyes on the window of Giles bedroom until she saw his light go off. Kia walked through the dark apartment into her room and shut the door behind her.   
  
She had slept on the couch for almost two weeks after she moved in with Giles until he cleaned all the books out of his back room and put in a queen sized bed. Kia flicked on he light switch and cast an immediate warm glow through out the room. She dropped her coat on a chair along with her bag and sat down on the carpet in the middle of the room. She reached on the floor for the remote to her CD player and clicked it on. The familiar strains of switchfoot filtered through her speakers.  
  
Four a.m. two hours ago  
  
I'm wearing out a lonely glow   
  
I miss you more than I could know   
  
Here I am   
  
Here I am  
  
Won't you get me?  
  
Kia laid back on the hard unforgiving carpet and let the words wash over her.  
  
I've got my hand in redemptions side   
  
Whose scars are bigger than these doubts of mine?  
  
Ill fit all of the monstrosities inside   
  
And ill come alive  
  
With my fist down at your feet   
  
I was running out of mysteries  
  
Insecure and incomplete   
  
Here I am   
  
Here I am  
  
Won't you get me?  
  
Kia's hands reached under her bed and pulled out a color photo of a young woman with long dark red hair standing next to a tall beautiful man with cat like green eyes and dark brown hair. The picture was faded and creased with time and lovingly worn away. Kia curled up in a ball on the floor of her room with the picture clutched to her chest. Tears ran down her cheeks and she shook with silent sobs.  
  
My fears have worn me out  
  
My fears have worn me out   
  
My fears have worn me worn me. 


End file.
